Gilded Butterflies
by dots-fiction
Summary: Years ago a prophecy was made and with that three lives were drastically changed. Fate must be sealed for the darkness within to end. Following Anja Wolfe's footsteps as she goes through Hogwarts and learns more about herself each day.
1. One

**Hello, you! Thank you very much for giving this a try! Now just a little warning: Anja is only ten so if she sounds childish, there's a reason for it! **

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**Chapter One**

When you live in an orphanage, you ought to quick learn a few things that kids with parents don't. Anja Wolfe knew not to mess with the quietest kids, for instance, she learned long ago that the quietest minds were not only the loudest but most troubled and perhaps dangerous as well. For that, when the orphanage Headmistress – Mrs. Murphy – assigned her to be responsible for the new kid she wasn't much thrilled. Asher Dunn was quiet, gloom and there was just something about the coldness in his expression that made a warning sign pop up on her mind. With her bubbly personality and easy smile, it was an understatement to say he wasn't exactly the kind of company she would choose for herself.

She didn't really know much about him, to be quite honest. Mrs. Murphy only introduced them to each other and told her to show him around the house before it was lunch time. Gimmoire Orphanage was located in an old mansion reformed years ago and turned into an orphanage by some rich old philanthropist that always made sure the place wasn't nearly as full as the orphanages cared by the government – it currently held twelve children, now thirteen with Asher – or as depressive.

Anja knew every other kid in the orphanage for most of them had been there ever since she could remember; she herself included was there way before she even stopped wearing diapers. She was left in their doorstep in a basket as if that wasn't cliché enough but that was all she knew about her short life before Gimmoire. Mrs. Murphy wouldn't tell her anything else about the night she found Anja, no matter how much she tried begging for the details, saying she's still too young to know certain things.

"This is where you'll stay; you might wanna drop your things before I show you the backyard." Anja mumbled quietly before opening the door to the boys' dormitory and beckoning Asher inside.

The boys' dormitory was a bit more crowded than the girls' seeing as there were more boys in the orphanage – eight now –. It was customary that every owner decorated their bed with a name tag in front of it styled the way they pleased, because of that Anja could easily spot Asher's supposed-to-be bed. The bed was also the only one that didn't have any belongings of its owner surrounding it on the floor or any posters on the wall behind it. Asher placed his bag on top of the bed and turned back to Anja without saying anything.

"Everyone is probably in the backyard right now, there's a pool and a playground." Anja said as she started walking in the opposite direction they had come from.

They walked in silence once again until they came across an open door that led to the backyard. Gimmoire's backyard was well-tended and rather beautiful, the playground was full of live with a few kids laughing and running around while some teenagers sat talking by the pool. Anja grinned at the sight of a brunette girl and waved ready to join her on whatever game she was playing before she remembered she had to keep Asher' company. She bit the inside of her cheek as she looked back at him.

"Uh, you wanna play?" She asked uncertain, he literally didn't seem like the type to play any game at all.

"No."

It was the first time she actually heard him speaking and couldn't help notice his voice sounded bored and annoyed at the same time. She shrugged and walked off away from him. For the next twenty minutes, Anja and the brunette girl – Marissa Green – played tag with a few others while Asher laid down on one of the recliners by the pool and stared at the sky. The other kids asked her about him but she merely shrugged and told them he was just new.

At lunch, they all had to seat at this one long table and even though Anja would rather sit by Marissa and gossip she felt guilty and chose to sit with Asher on his spot at the far end of the table. They ate in silence seeing as he'd shoot down any attempt of conversation she'd make.

"Where do you come from?" She asked between bites.

"Somewhere." She rolled her eyes but Anja Wolfe wasn't known to give up that easily.

"How old are you?"

"Older than you." He scoffed and she raised her nose in irritation.

"Do you have any family?"

"Must you be so nosey?" He snarled at her and her jaw dropped.

Anja huffed loudly and grabbed her plate before getting up to sit elsewhere. Anja kept out of his way for the rest of the week and only heard of Asher from what the other boys would tell her, apparently he didn't reserve his hostility to only her. Asher wouldn't start conversation with anybody nor would he answer them when they'd ask questions.

However, Mrs. Murphy insisted that Anja befriend him, using every opportunity possible to put the two of them together whether it was for a game or chores. The chores the kids had to do at the orphanage were rather small and mostly while under some helper's eyes, like taking care of the garden or helping in the kitchen.

"Why don't you talk to anyone?" Anja couldn't help herself; they had been working alongside in the kitchen for a little over an hour now and in complete boring silence.

He looked up at her clearly surprised and narrowed his eyes at her for a few seconds; Anja dropped her head a bit and went back to her work feeling his stare on her face. He would probably just snap at her anyway, she had no idea why she even tried with him really.

"I talk to _you_, don't I?" He snarled finally before going back to slicing his own carrots.

"You only did it once." She rolled her eyes. "And you weren't very nice, by the way."

"What do you expect me to say?" He sounded already annoyed and she looked up at him.

"Well, I don't know… It's not like I know anything about you!" She mumbled.

"I don't know anything about you either and you don't hear me complaining like some stupid girl." He snapped and her eyes widened.

Anja pushed him hard onto the floor and walked away in a quick pace, she knew she wasn't stupid but she truly felt like it for trying to talk to him at all. He was thick and insufferable and it was just not worth it! She started running as soon as she was out of his eyesight and stopped only when she was already in her favorite part of the backyard – the farthest tree, right near the fence –. She was sitting down with her back resting on the tree when she realized Asher had followed her, she glared at him but he ignored it and sat beside her.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I-I… I don't know _why_ I'm acting this way. I'm not like this, really!" He was staring at his own hands and she was looking straight-forward.

"Then what are you like?" She asked coldly and he sighed before rubbing his neck.

"I'm like you." He mumbled and she looked up at him without really understanding.

Anja had no idea what that had meant but she didn't ask and they had stayed in comfortable silence until one of the helpers came to fetch them for supper. Asher was nicer after that, he still didn't talk much to the other kids but Anja could tell he was trying harder to be social.

"I'm eleven…" He told her one morning. They were playing Monopoly in Anja's favorite place by the tree. "I used to live in London and…" He cleared his throat. "I never knew my father and I've got no idea where my mother is..."

Anja was silent for a while; she realized he had answered the questions she'd made him on his first day at the orphanage a little over a month ago. It was good to know he trusted her enough to tell her something personal like that and she wanted to reciprocate.

"I'm ten, I've always lived here in Gimmoire, I was left here when I was a few months old and I never met any of my parents."

Asher gave her a small smile and proceeded to tell her about what had brought him to Gimmoire and his previous stay at another orphanage in Central London. He used to live in a crowded one and he didn't have any friends because they all thought he was weird and would often call him names or beat him, because of that he would run away a lot and hide for a few days before somebody would bring him back. That was until this old man with a long beard came and brought him to Gimmoire telling him he would be better taken care of in a place where people like him were understood.

"What does that mean?" Anja shyly asked and Asher shrugged.

"I'm special, Anja, and so are you."

Once again she was left wondering what he was talking about but yet again she didn't question him, she just believed him. And for the rest of the summer they were inseparable, not only because Mrs. Murphy told them to be but because they wanted. However as the summer came to an end, Asher was sent away for some boarding school that Mrs. Murphy had explained to the others he had gotten a scholarship to leaving Anja feeling rather sad and for once in her life, kind of lonely.

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**Yay! I didn't want the whole orphanage thing to be sad and oh-poor-girl, so yeah, Anja lives in a different kind of orphanage... You'll find out more about Gimmoire later on the story! hehe Hope you guys liked the first chapter! **


	2. Two

**Fast-forwarding a bit to the next summer. By the way, Anja's a year younger than both Asher and Harry. This is now during Book 2.**

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**Chapter Two**

It was mid-July when Mrs. Murphy asked Anja to come down to her office and she was nervous to say the least, she was hardly ever called to see the Headmistress. She wondered if this was about yet another new kid that she would again be almost forced to befriend and couldn't help but groan. Even though she really liked Asher now, she did remember how annoying it was to be around him when he wouldn't speak and just acted like a complete arse.

She knocked on the Headmistress' office and heard her voice welcoming her in before she opened the door and walked inside. She sat on a comfy padded chair before the Headmistress' table and looked around shyly, Mrs. Murphy smiled and offered her a cookie that she took with eager hands – the cookies kept in the Headmistress' office were the best in the world! –.

"Anja, I've asked you to come see me because there are some things I need to tell you." Mrs. Murphy spoke softly and kept watching Anja's face for any reaction. "You know how Asher goes to a boarding school?" Anja nodded and bit the cookie on her hands. "You see, that boarding school is called Hogwarts and it's a place for special people."

"Special people?" Anja asked in a timid voice; she remembered Asher saying something about special people before.

"Yes and you, Anja, are just like them. You are special." Mrs. Murphy kept checking Anja's reaction but the girl wasn't even sure she understood the whole conversation to have any reaction. "Anja, you are a witch."

"Witches don't exist." Anja mumbled shaking her head after a couple of minutes in stunned silence.

"Oh, but they do." Mrs. Murphy said with a secretive smile that looked a whole lot like a smirk. "Here, read this." Anja took hold of the letter she was handed and quickly ripped it open.

As she curiously read she narrowed her eys a bit; it was an invitation to join some magical school for God's sake. Was she really supposed to believe that? She looked up at Mrs. Murphy who only kept looking at her with a soft smile and looked back down again. Anja blinked a few times and bit the inside of her mouth. She was no child no more, she knew witches weren't real nor were the fairytales she was read when younger.

"B-but… This must be a joke!" The girl mumbled.

"No, Anja." Mrs. Murphy sighed. "Have you ever done anything you couldn't quite explain how? Weird things? Things you shouldn't be able to?" Mrs. Murphy asked even though she knew the answer to that.

There were a few incidents where something would happen around Anja and the other kids tell on her to Mrs. Murphy or the other helpers but Anja could never explain what happened or how. Lamps exploding, things flying, flowers turning colors or animals being released from cages on their own. She had come to accept she was weird, that was all. But to be a witch… That couldn't be possible! Magic didn't exist, did it?

Apparently it did. It took a lot of convincing for Anja to believe all the things Mrs. Murphy was telling her and when she was finally released from the Headmistress' office she found Asher waiting for her just outside the door with a grin on his face and almost bouncing on his feet.

"I can't believe you finally know." He asked as they started walking away together. "Isn't it exciting?"

"I guess… Is it really true?" She mumbled.

"Yes! You're gonna love Hogwarts, it's amazing, the castle is huge and everything seems so… So magical! It's unbelievable!" Anja couldn't help but smile.

"Is Mrs. Murphy a witch too?" She asked in a small voice, the Headmistress seemed to know a lot.

"I don't think so…" Asher answered confused. "I think she's a squib though, a person born from magical parents but with no magic in her." Asher explained and Anja nodded.

It all seemed too weird for her and she had no idea what to expect of this new school but knowing that Asher would also be there had her feeling more relaxed, plus it helped that he managed to tell her pretty much everything there was for her to know about Hogwarts or the Wizarding World for that matter.

As august was coming to its end, Mrs. Murphy took the both of them shopping for school supplies in a funny place named Diagon Alley. Anja kept looking from side to side in awe as Asher would point out every place he had visited the year prior and tell her all about his visit there.

"All right, we need to get Anja her school robes." Mrs. Murphy spoke to get their attention and beckoned them inside one of the stores. "You won't mind being left here for a while, right?" Mrs. Murphy asked looking at Anja. "I thought we'd save some time and get all the books you two will need while you're being fitted."

"Oh, I don't mind." Anja shrugged.

The store wasn't crowded but there were two older-looking women and three kids waiting around. A girl wearing a brown t-shirt with a nametag saying _Tiana_ came over and offered her help to which Mrs. Murphy explained Anja was to be measured for her first-ever Hogwarts' school robes. Anja followed the girl inside the other room and lost herself as she watched a measuring tape flying by itself around a boy standing on a stall. She stepped up another stall next to his as a measuring tape appeared out of nowhere and began circling her.

"It's easy to see you're a muggle with that stupid look on your face. Try to look normal, why don't you?" The other boy being measured said in a bored voice shortly after the store's worker walked out of the small room and Anja looked up at him.

He was taller than her and had a rather pointed face but his hair was almost the same color as hers. He didn't sound nor look very friendly so Anja merely shrugged and went back to staring around the shop where everything moved on its accord, it seemed.

"When someone speaks to you, you answer." The boy continued sounding annoyed now.

"If you wanted me to talk to you, you should have been nicer." She replied coldly with a glare his way to which he scoffed quietly.

"My name's Draco, I'm the heir to the Malfoy family." He spoke with his chin pointing up in a very arrogant manner.

"I'm Anja." She replied, once again looking around.

"What kind of name is that? Are you at least Russian?" He snarled and she glared at him again.

"Not that I know." She answered calmly; it was not the first time some silly boy made fun of her unusual name. "Draco isn't that common either." She bit back.

"Not for you muggles, but I am a wizard." He continued with his arrogance and Anja smirked knowing exactly what to reply this time.

"Well, it looks like I'm a witch too, doesn't it?" He glared at her and she smugly went back to staring at the tape.

After the clothing store, Mrs. Murphy guided them into some other stores to get the rest of their school supplies such as cauldrons – imagine that! – and trivial things like notebooks. The day ended with the trio sitting at an ice cream parlor and having a cone each, Anja found it rather amusing to see Mrs. Murphy with an ice cream cone on her hands, she was always so serious.

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**Next chapter Anja finally goes to Hogwarts! Yay.**


	3. Three

**As Anja is a year below Harry, there will be a fair share of OC's in this fic in general so be warned. Now let's get to the castle already!**

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**Chapter Three**

"Do you really have to go?" Marissa mumbled quietly as she watched Anja pack.

Anja and Asher were leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow morning even though the other kids and staff thought they were going to a normal boarding school in Scotland. Mrs. Murphy had told her not to tell the truth to anybody else at the orphanage and to be careful of her wand, books and school supplies in general; nobody were to see any of that for they'd find it very odd.

"I do…" Anja bit the inside of her cheek. Marissa was her best friend and not telling her something big like being a freaking witch felt like a burden on her shoulders. "Mrs. Murphy says it's a great opportunity and that it'd be completely nonsense to reject." She explained carefully.

"Why can't I come with?" Marissa whined for what felt like the billionth time.

But the Headmistress had explained to the other kids that only Asher and Anja had passed this test she had them all take as not to sound suspicious. Marissa was the only one who actually cared enough to be annoyed she didn't pass the said test.

"I'm sorry." Anja spoke softly as she closed her trunk. "I wish you could come too." She said as she sat down on her bed, which was right beside Marissa's. "I'm gonna miss you." She said in a quiet voice.

"I'm gonna miss you too." Marissa smiled sadly. "By the way, you have to promise you won't replace me with some boarding school rich girl." She complained with a growing smile and Anja chuckled slightly.

"I promise."

The next day, Mrs. Murphy had all the other kids and staff members lined up in the living room to say goodbye to Asher and Anja before she drove them to Kings Cross' Station. When Asher showed her how she was supposed to walk into a wall to cross the barrier Anja was terrified but closed her eyes and ran for it anyway. The station was full of people; kids and teenagers running back and forth and parents looking all sad to say goodbye.

"Listen now you two." Mrs. Murphy grabbed both kids' shoulders to get their attention. "Have fun, alright? But don't get yourselves into any trouble. And Asher, watch out for Anja, it's her first time." Asher nodded with a made-up serious look on his face. "Oh, Anja." Mrs. Murphy turned to the small girl with a chocked-up voice. "It feels like just yesterday I was holding you in my arms and now you're going to Hogwarts!" Mrs. Murphy hugged Anja tightly and then went on to hug Asher as well before sending them both into the train.

Asher went off to find his roommates while Anja sat in their compartment and looked out the window as the parents were saying goodbye to their kids. Anja never gave much thought to being an orphan after all, for one she didn't have much to complain growing up in Gimmoire, she actually felt lucky to grow up there instead of some other orphanage. Plus it wasn't like she was the only orphan kid she knew, she was surrounded by them really, her two best friends were orphans too. Of course she wondered about who her parents were and why they didn't keep her around; when she was younger she'd dream that they were king and queen of a land far away and that one day they'd come get her and she'd be a princess. But she was older now and she knew that wouldn't happen.

"Hello?" A voice woke her up from her thoughts and she looked over at the door to find a girl looking at her curiously.

"Yes?" She smiled welcoming.

"You mind if I join you? Everywhere else is full already." The girl said in a firm voice but with a small smile on her face.

"Not at all." She shook her head. "My friend should be coming back any minute but you're welcome to join us."

The girl nodded slightly and pulled her trunk inside before sitting down opposite Anja. The girls were the same height which made Anja wonder if she was a first year too, she had dark brown hair that was slightly wavy and forest-green eyes; she was wearing jeans, bright-green sneakers and a black t-shirt that read _'L'art de Rien' _accompanied by something that really caught Anja's attention: pineapple earrings.

"I'm Maia Saab, by the way." The girl smiled and offered her hand.

"Anja Wolfe." Anja shook her hand with a grin. "Are you a first year as well?"

"Yeah…" Maia answered with an eye-roll. "To be honest, I'm hiding from my siblings. They can get really annoying really fast." She shrugged.

"You have siblings?" Anja asked excitedly, she never really talked to anyone her age that had siblings. "How many?"

"Three; two sisters and a brother that think they can boss me around just because I'm the youngest." Maia complained with an angry voice and Anja grimaced a little.

"I always thought it'd be fun to have siblings." Anja mumbled. "I don't have any."

"You don't know how lucky you are." Maia said.

Anja kept quiet after that, she didn't know what else to say and if she was quite honest she was a bit shocked to find out having siblings wasn't as fun as she thought it was. Maia noticed her newly-made acquaintance had become silent after her little rant and bit her lips; she always did that, scare people off because of her loose tongue.

"Huh…" She thought of a question she'd make as to not let the conversation drop completely. "Do you live here in London?" She asked with a breath of relief when Anja looked up from her lap.

"Oh, no, I'm from Brighton." Anja said with a calm smile. "What about you?"

"Winchester."

Asher came back right then accompanied by three other boys whom he introduced as his roommates from Gryffindor house – Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom –. The boys quickly engaged in conversation about whatever Anja didn't pay attention to while she and Maia got to know each other a little better. Anja couldn't help feeling that she was the complete opposite of Maia; she had a big family, she was very tomboy-like in both the way she dressed and talked plus she had a variety of hobbies such as painting and horseback riding. Anja was an orphan, _too girly _sometimes and the only elective she had ever showed interest in was music.

Maia and Anja stick together through the boat ride to the castle, mostly because they were each other's only known other person there, truly they both already knew they didn't had much in common. They shared a boat with two other girls, one who wore glasses and had strawberry-blonde hair and kept quiet the entire time and another who was dark-skinned with light-brown hair in a ponytail that kept looking around and didn't really shut her mouth the entire ride. More opposites, Anja thought.

"Do any of you know how we're supposed to get sorted?" The chatty girl asked once they were getting out of the boat but didn't give anyone time to answer. "I have no idea, really. It would be fun if we had to answer questions or something! Don't you think?" The girl continued as she looked over at the other girls.

"I guess…" Anja mumbled carefully. She did not think it'd be that much fun.

"I'm Scarlett, by the way. I don't think I've introduced myself, Scarlett Nye." The girl kept saying with a huge grin on her face and Anja gave a smaller smile back.

"Anja Wolfe, nice to meet you." She said quietly.

She was stating to get nervous; Asher had told her all about the houses and the sorting hat but she was still apprehensive about the sorting process and the whole school of magic thing. She wasn't sure what to expect and what if she didn't end up in the same house as Asher? She didn't even want to think about that possibility.

"I'm Maia Saab." She heard Maia said confidently and the three of them looked over at the girl with the glasses who had kept quiet all the while.

"Oh, I-I'm Coral. Coral White." The girl mumbled as she adjusted her glasses on her face.

The girls then proceeded to follow the biggest man Anja had ever seen up to the castle's front door. Anja looked around trying to memorize as many faces as she could, these kids surrounding her now were the same ones she'd share a dormitory with for the next few years after all.

A couple of minutes later they were walking inside a room with four really long tables full of uniformed students and she looked around spotting Asher who waved at her with a grin and she smirked and slightly waved back. Then that chatty girl, Scarlett, poked her rather painfully on the side before pointing up at the ceiling that looked like the sky outside with stars and clouds and a big glowing moon.

"Wow." Anja mumbled.

As the sorting started and names were being called, Anja tried to keep up and put names to faces but she was too excited and nervous to properly do so. They were being called alphabetically by their last names and because of that she was one of the last four still standing after what felt like forever; after all even Maia Saab and the chatty girl Scarlett Nye had been long gone to Hufflepuff and Gryffindor respectively.

"Weild, Mason." A boy with a tanned skin and brown locks by his shoulder walked to the front and sat down on the chair to have the hat put on his head.

"Hufflepuff!" The hat called after only a few seconds and the yellow and black table cheered as the boy skipped over to it.

"White, Coral." The quiet girl with strawberry-blond hair and glasses from the boat got called and seemed to gulp before almost running to the stall.

"Ravenclaw!" The hat called and Anja could almost swear the girl sighed in relief.

"Wolfe, Anja." Her eyes widened when she realized that was her being called this time.

She took a deep breath as she walked up to the front and sat down on the chair, the older lady with the pointed hat smiled tightly at her before placing the Sorting Hat on her head. She could feel the hat moving on top of her head and she gasped as it started talking in her mind.

"Hum…" The hat began. "Wolfe, huh? Don't think I've ever had one with this last name before… Is it really yours, child?" The hat sounded rather condescending for her liking.

"Of course it's really mine!" She huffed. "What's that supposed to mean?" The hat seemed to chuckle.

"Well, well, well; we've got a bit of a backbone there, don't we?" The hat spoke slowly. "There's a fire inside of you that is very common on the fellows of Gryffindor House but there is also much anger…" The hat went on and Anja could feel herself growing impatient, it didn't seem to take this long for the others. "Very ambitious indeed… Almost selfish sometimes…"

"Honestly, everyone's staring! Would you just decide?" She mumbled in a quiet annoyed voice.

"Yes, yes, of course." The hat spoke in what seemed like a daze. "Slytherin!"

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**Yay! Anja's such a Slytherin, she just doesn't know yet... **

_**By the way, you guys, if anyone's interested on getting to know more details about the OC characters just go to the tumblr link on my profile. I've put up a characters' info there. **_


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